EN
During rescue excavations conducted on the route of the planned S3 expressway, in Jordanowo, Świebodzin municipality, Lubuskie voivodeship, at site 7, within an early medieval cemetery, six coins were discovered (2 whole + 4 fragments). They were recorded in the fills of burial pits located in the north-eastern and south-western parts of the necropolis. Among them were a fragment of an Islamic dirham, a German coin of Otto and Adelaide, two fragments of type V cross denars minted in Saxony, a type VIII cross denar (with a head) and a type Str 53 denar of Bolesław the Curly (with a head and eagle). A fragment of an Islamic coin of Mansur ibn Nuha from the Samanid dynasty – years 961-976 is the earliest dated piece. Analogous coins were also found in other finds from Wielkopolska. Otto and Adelaide denarii were minted during the co-regency of Otto III and his grandmother Adelaide from 983 onwards. Th ese reigns were limited to only a few years, but the confidence in this type of coinage lasted, and their issuance continued much longer, until the mid-11th century. At the same time, they were common circulating money in the lands of early medieval Poland. The largest group of coins from the cemetery are the cross denarii discovered in the fills of graves. They constituted the main type of bullion money in our lands from approximately the middle of the 11th century to the beginning of the 12th century. The pieces discovered in Jordanowo can be dated to the 70s of the 11th century and the turn of the 11th/ 12th century. Among the discovered crosses was a fragment of a denarius, minted in Saxony, similar to the CNP 617 variety, which often appears in finds from Polish lands. A particular find dating to the end of the 11th century, includes a type VIII cross denarius, so called ‘with the head of St. John the Baptist’ CNP 1012-1013. The coin was minted in Wrocław, probably by the local bishops, as evidenced by the occurrence of similar pieces mainly in Silesia, and the depiction of St. John the Baptist – the patron saint of the local cathedral, on the obverse. Th e cross denarius discovered in Jordanowo is one of the rare coins found in both early medieval hoards and loose finds. This is confirmed by one of the largest bullion finds from the Polish lands, in which only four similar pieces occurred among almost 13,000 cross denarii. A denarius of Bolesław the Curly with the image of an eagle on the reverse is also an extremely interesting example. This coin is preserved in very poor condition. It was most probably made of poor quality silver (it has a yellowish tint). It is also the latest minted of all the pieces discovered in the cemetery in Jordanowo. The denarius belongs to the late types of coins issued by Bolesław the Curly, much rarer in finds compared to the prince’s earlier issuances. Coins of this ruler occurred in large numbers mainly in treasures. Less frequently they were grave and loose finds. The good examples are the cluster discoveries from Anusin, where out of ca. 1000 coins 3 denarii of Bolesław the Curly (including 1 of the Str 53 type; Such. 6) were found; from Głogów – out of more than 20600 coins 1509 denarii of Bolesław the Curly were found (including 631 of the Str 53 type; Such. 6); or from Pełczysk – where in a collection of several thousand pieces 104 denarii of the same ruler were discovered (including 6 of the Str 53 type; Such. 6). At the large early-medieval cemetery in Dziekanowice, Łubowo municipality, out of 142 coins discovered in the fi lls of graves, only two were denarii of Bolesław the Curly (there was no Str 53 type among them; Such. 6). A similar case was observed during the excavations on Ostrów Lednicki, where out of 208 discovered coins (from diff erent periods) only 1 denarius of Bolesław the Curly (type with the head of St Adalbert) occurred. A hoard of early mediaeval coins was also discovered between the graves during excavations in the southern part of the Jordanowo cemetery. It consisted of more than 100 pieces, mainly earlier issues of cross denarii. On the basis of the analysis of the collection, it was determined that it was deposited in the ground most probably at the end of the 11th century. Thus, it was probably hidden in the area of a cemetery already functioning at that time. Based on the analysis of the coins identifi ed in the graves at site no. 7 in Jordanowo and the analogous site in Dziekanowice, site. 22, despite significant differences in the number of discovered burials in both cemeteries (78 graves in Jordanowo and 1655 graves in Dziekanowice) the percentage share of coins in the equipment of the deceased is very similar and amounts to 7.69% in the case of Jordanowo and 8.58% in the case of Dziekanowice. Coins were also placed in similar places (in relation to the body layout). Given the above data, the Jordanowo cemetery may have been in use probably as early as the 2nd half of the 11th century and functioned for about 100 years, at least until the end of the reign of Bolesław the Curly.